Tuesday, October 25, 2011

true colors

Twenty five years ago, Cyndi Lauper had her last big hit with this torchsong for the downtrodden. Billy Steinberg had originally written 'True Colors' about his mother; but Tom Kelly saw the universal potential in the chorus and helped him rewrite the lyrics. Lauper contributed additional lyrics and did the arrangement with Peter Wood. Steinberg explains: "One of the things that one contends with as a songwriter is that when an artist records your song, unless you're producing it yourself or somehow involved in the production, you have very little input into how the song's being arranged and structured. Sometimes an artist will copy your demo exactly as you present it. That would be the case with 'Like a Virgin' or 'Alone' by Heart - the records copied the demos. In 'True Colors,' more than any other song, Cyndi Lauper came up with a very, very creative departure from our demo. The demo was sort of rooted in the Gospel ballad tradition of a song like 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Let It Be' or 'Lean On Me,' that sort of thing with the piano. Cyndi completely dismantled that sort of traditional arrangement and came up with something that was breathtaking and stark. Tom and I were both elated when we heard her record of it because it was so much more adventurous than our demo, and to her credit, she produced it and did a beautiful job. That song, more than any other song I've written, has had tremendous life. I guess more than any other song that Tom and I wrote, that one seems to have the most universal appeal."

'True Colors' reached number one in the US and Canada, number three in Australia, and number twelve in the UK. It was her last chart topper. Two decades later, Lauper used the song to launch a True Colors Tour for the Human Rights Campaign to promote human rights and raise awareness about hate crimes in the US and beyond with acts like Debbie Harry, Erasure, The Dresden Dolls, the Indigo Girls, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The B-52's, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Joan Armatrading, Sarah McLachlan, and Rufus Wainwright. Comedians Margaret Cho, Carson Kresley, Wanda Sykes, Kate Clinton, and Rosie O'Donnell, also took part.